Slicing machine



June 9, 1931. y Y A. VAN DUYN 1,809,430

SLICING MACHINE Filed Jan. 20, 1927 4 W @7 L x I 5 3 M flaw } ADRIANUSVAN DUYN, or

l6 j usting crank at a slow speed and is a view Patented June 9, 1931UNITED srarss reta n BUTTER-DAM, NETHERLANDS, ASSIGNOR TO U. S.

SLIGING MACHINE COMIPANY, OF LA FORTE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANASLICING MACHINE Application filed January 20, 1327, Serial H'o. 162,229,and in Germany May 20, 1826.

This invention relates to slicing machines of the kind having areciprocating part for effecting the slicing operation and has for itsobject the provision of means for adthe range and speed ofreciprocation. Other objects will appear from the following description.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of partsshown in the accompanying drawings and clescribed in the followingspecification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is an elevation of .a slicing machine with partsin section, showing one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the change speed gearing shown in Fig. l;and

Fig. i is a diagrammatic view of the arrangement of the gears used todrive the looking from the left of Fig. 3.

In the operation of slicing machines as heretofore manufactured, inwhich the reciprocating table has a fixed range of movement, themovement must be great enough to accommodate the maximum sized piece ofmaterial to be sliced by the machine and when a smaller piece is beingsliced, a considerable portion of the reciprocating move ment is wasted.In the present invention,

the range of reciprocation may be adjusted so that idle movement of thereciprocating parts is avoided. Means is also provided for speeding upthe drive for the reciprocating part when the range of reciprocation isdecreased so that the actual rate of travel of the reciprocating part isnot diminished when the range of movement is diminished.

The accompanying drawings show one embodiment of the present inventionin which the numeral 10 designates the base of a slicing machine havinga reciprocating ta ble 11 mounted to slide on ways 12. A hollow driveshaft, comprising sections 13 and '13, is journaled in bearings withinthe base 10 and is connected to a hand wheel 14 by means of which thedrive shaft is rotated. A beveled pinion 15 is connected to the driveshaft 13 and meshes with a crown gear 16 carried by a hollow stud shaft17 journaled in a bearing 18 in the frame 10. V A crank arm 19 issecured to the upper end of the shaft 17 and is rotated by the gear 16when the hand wheel 14 is turned. A cross-head 20 is slidably mounted ina slot 21 in the'crank arm 19 and a connecting link 22 is pivotallconnected to the cross-head 20 by a crank pin 23. The other end of thelink 22 is pivoted at 24- to the reciprocating table 11. Rotation ofthearm 19 therefore recipro cates the table 11 upon its guides 12. A screwshaft 25 is journaled in the crank arm 19 and is disposed longitudinallyof the slot 21. The screw shaft 25 has threaded engagement with thecross-head 20 so that rotation of the screw shaft will slide the crosshead in its guide slot 21. A pinion 26 is secured to the screw shaft 25and meshes with a pinion 27 carried by a shaft 28 which is journaled inand disposed concentrically with the hollow shaft 17 The lower end ofthe shaft 28 carries a gear 29 which meshes with a pinion 30. The pinion30 is carried on'a shaft 31 which extends centrally through the hollowshafts 13 and 13 and carries a hand wheel 32 at its outer end. It willbe apparent that rotation of thehand wheel 32 will rotate the screwshaft 19 and adjust the cross-head 20, thus changing the effectivelength of the crank arm 19 and adjusting the range of reciprocation ofthe table 11.

WVhen a comparatively large piece of meat, such as a piece of bacon, isto be sliced, the cross-head will be disposed at the outer end of theslot 21, as illustrated inthe drawings, and the table 11 will have itsmaximum range of movement. If a smaller piece of meat, such as a pieceof sausage, is to be sliced, the hand crank 32 may be rotated to movethe cross-head 2O inwardly and thus shorten the stroke of thereciprocating table. When the range of movement of the table is less,the complete stroke may be made in less time without increasing thecutting speed. For this reason, it is therep at the same speed as shaft1.3.

fore desirable to speed up the rotation of the crank shaft when thelength of travel of the reciprocating table is decreased. For thispurpose, the two sections of the hollow drive shaft are connected by avariable speed device of any suitable construction, indicatedgenerally'at 33. Speed changing devices suitable for this purpose arecommonly employed in the rear hubs of bicycles and are well-known in theart.

The speed changing device, indicated generally as 33 in Fig. 1, is morespecifically illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. In these figures, the changespeed mechanism is shown comprising member 34 rigidly fastened to theshaft 13 by means of screw 36, and a member 35 fastened by means ofbolts 36 to the base 10. Rigidly fastened to the member 35 are the studs37, 37, 38 and 38, upon which are rotatably mounted the gears A,

A, B and B, respectively. The member 34 has two internal gears 44 and39. A gear 40 is slidably mounted upon the hollow shaft 13 but is fixedso as to rotate therewith by means of the pin 41 fastened to the gear 40and extending through a slot 42 in the shaft 13. The pin 41 extends alsointo the helical groove 43 in the shaft 31. The gears B and B are inconstant mesh with the internal gear 39 on member 34 and the gear 40 isadapted to slide on the shaft 13' to alternately engage the gear 40 withthe gears A and A and gear 44 in a manner presently to be described.

The operation of the change speed mechanism is as follows 1-1Viththeparts shown in the position indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, the gear 4O isin mesh with the gears A and A. Therefore, rotation of the shaft 13 bymeans of the flywheel 14, causes the member 34 to rotate in the samedirection as the gear 40 through the intermediary of the gears A, A, B,B, and 39. This rotation is at a speed which is less than the speed ofrotation of the shaft 13. Consequently, the shaft 13 is rotated at aspeed less than that of the shaft 13 since it is rigidly fastened to themember 34. This causes a slower reciprocation of the carriage 1.1 forthe same speed of rotation of the shaft 13.

Rotation of the shaft 31 in a counterclockwise direction, as seen inFig. 3, causes the gear 40 to slide along the'shaft 13 into engagementwith the internal gear 44 due to' the engagement of the pin 41 with thegpiral groove 43. This operation causes a irect connection between theshaft 13 and the shaft 13 so that the shaft 13 is driven This speeds upthe rotation of the crank 19 and if the length of the path of travel ofthe carriage 11 were the same, the movement of the car riage past theknife would be faster than where the shaft 13 was not directly connectedto the shaft 13. Since it is always clesirable to have the speed ofmovement of the carriage past the knife remain substantially the same,it is necessary to shorten the effective length of the crank 19 and thisis done, as previously described, by moving the block 20 to the positionnearest the center of the crank. This is automatically done as the gear40 is shifted into engagement with the gear 44 because it is necessaryat that time to rotate the shaft 31 and this, in turn, rotates the gear30 and slides the block 20 to the position nearest the center of thecrank, as previously described. Therefore, although the crank isrotating morerapidly than previously, the effective length of the crankarm is shorter and the carriage does not move through as great adistance and consequently the speed with which it moves past the knifeis substantially the same as where the shaft 13 is driven through thegears 40, A, A, B, B, and 39.

Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts Without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and Itherefore do not wish to be restricted to the precise constructionherein disclosed.

I claim '1. A. slicing machine comprising a reciprocating table, arotary crank arm a hollow driving shaft for said crank arm, a crossheadslidably mounted in said crank arm, a link connecting said cross-headwith said table, a rotary shaft concentric with said hollow shaft andhaving threaded connection with said cross-head for moving saidcrosshead along said crank arm, a hand wheel arranged at an easilyaccessible position on said slicing machine, and operative connectionbetween said hand wheel and rotary shaft for rotating said shaft.

2. A slicing machine comprising a reciprocating table, a crank arm, across-head slidably mounted in said crank arm, link connecting saidcross-head and table, a screw shaft having threaded connection with saidcross-head, a stud shaft co-axial with the axis of rotation of saidcrank arm, gearing connecting said stud shaft and screw shaft, a gear onsaid stud shaft, an operating shaft extending radially of said gear andhaving a pinion thereon meshing with said gear, and a hand device forrotating said operating shaft to adjust said cross-head along said crankarm.

3. A slicing machine comprising a reciprocating table, a crank arm, alink having one end pivotally connected with said table, a crank pinadjustable along said crank arm and having the other end of said linkpivoted thereon, a hollow drive shaft for rotating said crank arm, meansfor adjusting said crank pin along said crank arm, and an 0peratingshaft for said adjusting means extending through said hollow driveshaft.

4. A slicing machine having a slicing knife and a work support arrangedto reciprocate relative to each other for severing slices, means foradjusting the range of relative reciprocation of said knife and support,and means for changing the speed of relative reciprocation of said knifeand support.

A slicing machine comprising a recip rocating member, a drive for saidmember, an adjustable connection between said drive and member forvarying the range of reciprocation of said member, and a speed-changingconnection between said drive and member for varying the relative speedof said drive and member.

6. A slicing machine comprising a slicing knife, a reciprocating table,a drive for said slicing machine, a rotary member operated by said drivefor reciprocating said table, adjustable connection between said rotarymember and reciprocating table for varying the range of movement of saidtable, and a speed-changing connection between said. drive and rotarymember.

7. A slicing machine comprising siicing knife, a reciprocating table, acrank arm, a link having adjustable connection. with said crank arm forreciprocating said table, a hollow drive shaft for rotating said crankarm, an operating shaft extending through said drive shaft, a connectionbetween said operating shaft and crank a rm for aijljusting said linkalong said crank arm, drive wheel for rotating said drive shaft, andspeedijzhanging mechanism interposed between said drive wheel and driveshaft.

8. A slicing machine comprising a rotary slicing knife, a reciprocatingtable for presenting material to said knife to be sliced, a rotary crankarm having a cross-head adjustable longitudinally thereof, a linkconnecting said. cross-head and table, a screw sl'iaft for moving saidcross-head along said crank arm, a hollow drive shaft for rotating saidcrank arm, an operating shaft extending through said hollow drive shaft,means connecting said operating shaft with said screw shaft to rotatesaid screw shaft from said operating shaft, a drive wheel, and variablespeed connection between said drive wheel an d drive shaft.

9v In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicing knife, of a worksupport, means for moving said slicing knife and work support relativeto each other for severing slices froma substance mounted on said worksupport, and means for adjusting the range of relative reciprocation ofsaid knife and support and simultaneously changing the speed of relativereciprocation of said knife and support. a

10. In a slicing machine, the combination with a reciprocating member,of a drive for said member, an adjustable connection between said driveand member for varying the range of reciprocation of said member, and aspeed changing connection between said drive and member for varying thespeed of said drive simultaneously with the varying of the range ofreciprocation of said member.

11. In a slicing machine, the combination with a'slicing knife, of areciprocating table, a drive for said slicing machine, a rotary memberoperated by said drive for reciprocating said table, an adjustableconnection between said rotary member and reciprocating table forvarying the range'of movement of said table, ,a speed changingconnection between said drive and rotary member, and

means for simultaneously changing the range of movement of said tablewith the changing of the speed by said speed chang' ing connection.

12. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicing knife, of areciprocating table, a drive for said slicing machine, a pivoted memberoperated by said drive for reciproeating said table, an adjustableconnection between said pivoted member and said reciprocating table forvarying the range of movement of said table, and a speed chang ingconnection between said drive andpivoted member operable to change thespeed of reciprocation of said table simultaneously withthe changing ofsaidadjustable connection to vary the range of movement of said table. I

13. A slicing machine comprising a retary knife and a table movablerelative to said knife so that slices may be cut from a substance onsaid table, means for causing relative reciprocation between said.knifeand table, adjustable to vary the extent of relas tive travelbetween said knife and table com-- prising pivotally connecting memberswhich are also pivotally connected respectively to elements fixed withrespect to said knife and said table, said members being movable abouttheir common pivotal connection to cause relative reciprocation betweensaid knife and table, means for varying the point of pivotal connectionbetween said members to vary the extent of relative reciprocationbetween said knife and table, and means for varying the rate of relativemovement be tween said knife and table.

14. A slicing machine comprisin a rotary knife and a table movablerelative to said knife so that slices may be cut from a substance onsaid table, and means for causing relative reciprocation between saidknife and table, adjustable to vary the'extent of the relative travelbetween said knife and table comprising pivotally connected memberswhich are also pivoted respectively to ele ments fixed with respect tosaid knife and said table, said members belng movable about their commonpivotal connection to cause relative reciprocation between said knifeand table, means for varying the point of pivotal connection betweensaid members to vary the extent of relative reciprocation knife and atable movable relative to said knife so that slices may be cut from asubstance on said table, and means for causing relative reciprocationbetween said knife and table, adjustable to vary the extent of therelative travel between said knife and table and to vary the rate ofrelative movement between said knife and table comprising pivotallyconnected members which are also pivoted respectively to elements fixedwith respect to said knife and said table, said members being movableabout their pivotal connection to cause relative reciprocation betweensaid knife and table, means for varying the point of pivotal connectionbe tween said members to vary the extent of relative reciprocationbetween said knife and table, and means for simultaneously varying thespeed of relative reciprocation of said knife and table to increase thenumber of relative reciprocations per unit of time simultaneously with adecrease in the extent of the relative reciprocation.

16. In a slicing machine, the combination with a reciprocating member,of a pivoted,

arm movable about its pivot for actuating said member, means for movingsaid pivoted arm, a link having an adjustable connection between saidarm and said member, change speed. mechanism for moving said arm toreciprocate said member through said link,

means for varying the adjustable link cornection between said arm andmember to vary the extent of reciprocation of said member, and means forchanging said change speed mechanism to vary the rate of reciprocationof said member.

17. In a slicing machine, the combination with a reciprocating member,of a pivoted arm movable about its pivot for actuating said member,means for moving said-pivoted arm, a link having an adjustableconnection between said arm and said member, change speed mechanism formoving said arm to reciprocate said member through said link,

, means for varying the adjustabie link connection between said arm andmember to vary the extent of reciprocation of said member, and means forchanging said change speed mechanism to vary the rate of V reciprocationof said member simultaneous-- ly with the change in the adjustableconnection between. said arm and member.

18. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicing knife, of awork support, means for moving said slicing knife and aoa4ao

